HabsWorld.net --
Heading into the draft lottery, the Habs were holding down the fifth-overall selection. While there was a winner in the lottery, it wasn’t the Canadiens but they did stay where they were and will pick fifth next month.
Unlike last year when Montreal had the top odds, the range of outcomes were much wider this time. While the Canadiens could go as high as first, they could also slip as low as seventh and could land anywhere in between with the exception of fourth overall. Their odds (rounded to the nearest tenth) for picking at each selection were as follows:
1st Overall: 8.5%
2nd Overall: 8.6%
3rd Overall: 0.3%
5th Overall: 24.5%
6th Overall: 44.0%
7th Overall: 14.2%
The Chicago Blackhawks went into the lottery with the third-best odds and were victorious, moving them into the top spot where they will likely select Connor Bedard. The Anaheim Ducks, meanwhile, only slipped one spot as they won the second drawing. The draft order is now as follows:
1) Chicago Blackhawks
2) Anaheim Ducks
3) Columbus Blue Jackets
4) San Jose Sharks
5) Montreal Canadiens
6) Arizona Coyotes
7) Philadelphia Flyers
8) Washington Capitals
9) Detroit Red Wings
10) St. Louis Blues
11) Vancouver Canucks
12) Arizona Coyotes (via Ottawa Senators)
13) Buffalo Sabres
14) Pittsburgh Penguins
15) Nashville Predators
16) Calgary Flames
This will be the first time that the Habs select fifth overall since 2005. They opted to take Carey Price with that selection and he was a franchise netminder for Montreal until injuries ended his playing career prematurely.
Assuming Bedard, Adam Fantilli, and Leo Carlsson are on the board, the pool of players that the Canadiens are likely to pick from will be Russian winger Matvei Michkov, American centres Will Smith and Ryan Leonard, Canadian winger Zach Benson, Slovak middleman Dalibor Dvorsky, and Austrian defenceman David Reinbacher who has moved up the rankings in recent weeks.
It will be a while yet before the Habs make their selection as the first round of the draft is slated for June 28th.
